STRICKFADEN BLISTERS BACK 9 FOR SENIOR TOUR WIN
Posted: 3/18/2011 9:28:59 AM
High Point, NC (March 17, 2011) - Gary Strickfaden of Southern Pines had a modest start today In the Senior Amateur Golf Tour event held at Willow Creek CC. The Championship Flight member was 3-over at the turn. The back 9 would prove to be a totally different story for Strickfaden as he birdied 4 holes on the back-side to finish with a 33 and an even-par overall total of 72. He was 2 strokes clear of High Point's Kim Mansfield and Mike Smith of Lewisville. "Gary is a 1st year player on our Tour and a number of our Senior members had told me his game is pretty well known in the Pinehurst area", said Tour Director Bruce Hallenbeck. "After posting that 33 on the back, I see what they were talking about".
Laurinburg's James McMillan picked up right where he left off during the 2010 season. During the latter part of last year McMillan picked up his game and was a factor in the A Flight in virtually every event in which he appeared. Today his 77 left him 1 shot clear of both John East of Rockingham and Advance's Ron Vanderklok.
In the B Flight, there were 2 happy brothers as Zebulon's Jim and Gus Alford took 1st and 2nd respectively with an 82 and 83. Both players are Tour rookies and were playing in only their 2nd Tour event. Madison's David Baker also posted an 83, but lost a scorecard playoff that put him in 3rd place.
Jerry Tilley of Greensboro was C Flight "King" with an 88. He also escaped by the narrowest of margins over TJ Warren of Greensboro and Pinehurst's John Henely who both registered 89s. With 30 participants, the C Flight was the largest flight out of an overall number of just under 100 total players that competed in the event. As the season has just gotten underway, anyone interested in playing in a Senior Tour event can call Hallenbeck at 336-495-6556 or email him at behgolf@aol.com for information on how the Tour works.
SENIOR AMATEUR GOLF TOUR
WILLOW CREEK COUNTRY CLUB EVENT
TOP FIVE SCORES BY FLIGHT
CHAMPIONSHIP (6,209 yards) Gary Strickfaden, Southern Pines 72 Kim Mansfield, High Point 74 Mike Smith, Lewisville 74 Steve Lambert, Summerfield 76 Randy Coppedge, Greensboro 78 Lawrence Hicks, Greensboro 78 Rick Luzar, Pinehurst 78
A FLIGHT (6,209 yards) James McMillan, Laurinburg 77 John East, Rockingham 78 Ron Vanderklok, Advance 78 Marshall Wolfe, Clemmons 81 Turner Church, Gibsonville 82 Mike Daniels, Greensboro 82
B FLIGHT (6,209 yards) Jim Alford, Zebulon 82 Gus Alford, Zebulon 83 David Baker, Madison 83 Dexter Barbee, Burlington 85 Dan Whalen, Greensboro 85
C FLIGHT (6,209 yards) Jerry Tilley, Greensboro 88 TJ Warren, Greensboro 89 John Henely, Pinehurst 89 Brian Costine, Durham 90
John Hall, Raleigh 92